running away, running back
by jamestheweasel
Summary: Hiccup finds himself running away from the only home he knew just to return as its only savior. I know fics like these are a dime a dozen but this one shot is my version of the story.(ONE SHOT)


**This is going to be a one shot of HTTYD. I might come back and turn this into a full fledged story one day but after my other story, Fox-napped is complete. Please review and tell me what you thought.**

It had been a mistake to stay after dragon training and try to talk to the other dragons with what Toothless had thought him of their language. He had started to notice the patterns in Toothless's inhuman crooning early on. The language barrier was difficult to cross but over the last month he had done it. He took a deep breath before he walked up to the Nadder's steel cage. The dragon perked up from the back of the dark room.

\ What do you want now you wretched excuse for a worm?/ It spat at him through the door. \Haven't you hurt me enough?/ She demanded with roar.

\Are you hurt?/ Hiccup asked through the door, his words full of concern. He had seen the blow to the wing that it had received courtesy of Astrid but didn't consider any lasting damage till now.

There was a heavy silence that emanated from the cage as the shocked dragon questioned her own sanity. \Hello... Human?/

\Yes?/ Hiccup was ecstatic as he pushed his head closer to the cage and crooned into it. It was the first time he had spoken with a dragon other than Toothless.

\How can you underst-/ he wasn't paying enough attention to understand the rest of her words. The reverberating hum of his head being slammed into the door was all he could focus on. unbeknownst to him Snotlout had returned to the ring and had decided to take the opportunity to make Hiccup's life more difficult then it already was .

By the time his head stopped ringing and he could think again he was on the ground with a large smiling Viking looming over him. "So how did you get so good, useless."

"umm.. I was ju-" He barely brought his hands up in time to stop the kick that was flying at his face. His kick still connected hard enough to draw blood and the small yelp that hiccup let out only added to the bully's sadistic enjoyment.

"You know... I don't really care," he taunted cockily as the paced around the teen.

\Get away from that hatchling you mindless fool,/ the Nadder screeched from inside her cage.

He wasn't alone anymore , Hiccup remembered that. His own people might excuse the harsh beatings as the fighting that children always partake in, his father might shun him for not being more of a Viking, his island might despise is very existence, but the dragons did not. Despite not really knowing the hiccup very well, the dragon that was caged behind him was always aware of how the boy suffered and the treatment he received from his peers during training.

"Looks like the dragon is hungry, " he said with the same devious smirk as he walked slowly towards the lever to release the dragon.

\Open this cage you mindless fool,/ the dragon roared from inside the pen.

After recovering from the initial shock, Hiccup stirred from his place on the floor and stood. He turned and faced the person who had tormented him most in his short life. "I'll take my chances with the dragon," Hiccup deadpanned.

When the enraged Snotlout couldn't think of a response he just forced hiccup to the floor again with a shove. Then when hiccup opened his mouth to say something witty, he kicked him again... and again... and again. Only after a few minutes did he stop the painful beating. The Nadder had continued to violently protest but there was still five inches of steel in between her and the action. Hiccups arms were now bleeding profusely and his legs were doing the same . The battered boy stayed quiet and motionless as Snotlout exited the arena laughing to himself as he went. without looking up he whimper to the dragon, \Is he gone?/

\I think so,/ came the somber response.

He slowly stood against the cage wall, using it as a crutch. \I'll be back later to explain everything. I need to go now./

\go get your wounds taken care of. I'm sorry I could not be of more help./ she sniffed the air again as she detected something new. \Tell that night fury that he's not doing a good job, he should have been here./ He was not in the mood to argue over how dangerous bringing a night fury into the village would be.

 _I just HAD to use what I learned with toothless, didn't I..._ Hiccup thought to himself as he limped painfully back to his home... The beatings from his cousin had become more frequent and much more brutal in the past month but this was the worst by far. He gave a soft chuckle as he realized what had just happened inside his head. _Home... which one?_ He could either take the short walk to the house which had shackled him for the last fifteen years or he could have taken the long walk to the campsite where his best friend now peacefully slept. There was no real debate in his mind as he limped into the forest. His house had nothing for him, no one to comfort him, no one to treat his wounds, no one who cared... His walk gave him time to think.

Toothless woke with a start as the smell flowed into his nose. _blood... Hiccups blood... this is not good_. Quickly making his way to the entrance of the cove he managed to get there just in time to spot him limp into the cove.

\What happened?/ toothless demanded as he caught the falling Viking and carried him over to their camp.

"Shootout" hiccup whispered through his hurt lungs. Toothless let out a protective growl after hearing the name, he had come to understand hiccup's . He walked hiccup over to the well made bedroll and helped his bleeding friend down onto it. Hiccup carefully took off his clothes and grabbed for the box of medical equipment in the pile of stuff he had snuck down to the cove.

\No,/ toothless said forcefully as he put his scaled body between the box and the child.

"toothless, I need to treat these so they don't fester" he pled glancing to his still bleeding limbs.

\It's not pleasant but dragons saliva will heal it better than whatever plant you mammals decide to rub yourselves with./ Hiccup knew he was right. He had tested toothless claims of its properties a week earlier when he cut his hand on his knife. The slimly liquid stung when applied but clotted a wound quickly and didn't appear to fester after.

"Fine," hiccup relented. He was in no condition to argue anyway.

Toothless did not like it any more than hiccup. It pained him to see his human squirm from the pain that the application caused and the taste of his blood in the dragons mouth was sickening. After a few seconds of covering the naked Viking toothless looked back up at him. \ I don't want you going back there./

"Don't worry bud... I don't think I'm going to... I'm going to take a nap now," he reassured the worried dragon before slipping to sleep. Stumbling through the forest had left him tired and sore, nevertheless he wouldn't trade the position next to the sleeping dragon for anything.

\You are going to be the death of me/ he mumbled before pulling hiccup closer to him and wrapping him in his warm leathery wings.

 **The next morning**

Hiccup opened his eyes to see nothing but the dim reflection of light off of dragon scales and the smooth rising and falling chest of his friend. Toothless noticed his stirring and opened his wings to let the mid-morning sun greet the child. "Oh that's not good," he muttered to himself.

\What isn't?/

he let out a soft groan as he got to his feet and found his clothes, " I could get away with sleeping here when my father was gone but now that he's back from the raid he may be wondering where I slept. After awhile he might send a search party."

\so?/

Hiccup made and exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes. " You know what would happen if they found you."

\run in fear?/

"I doubt it."

\I can be intimidating,/ toothless defended earning only a chuckle from his rider.

Hiccup looked himself over and made sure everything was in pace, " see you tonight toothless," he said before turning to leave.

\Your actually going back there? I thought you said you wouldn't,/ toothless growled, moving between hiccup and the exit. \Don't make me remind you what they want you to do tomorrow./

"Toothless... I know I can't stay here and I know I can't kill that dragon."

\So why are you going back?!/

"They aren't all bad... I don't want to leave without saying goodbye to at least some of them."

\ fine,/ toothless huffed before moving out of his riders way. \But we are leaving./

Hiccup was surprised how well the dragon saliva actually worked in healing his wounds. Just after one night the beating barley showed on his body and his limp was almost completely gone. He took the same path he did ever day from the forest back to his house and Despite everything that could go wrong, hiccup had hope glimmering in his eyes. It might have been one of the worst beatings he had ever received but it was one of the very few nights where he was not haunted by what could go wrong. All he knew was that he slept by his best friend and he would survive. One more day... he could stand one more day.

"Hiccup!" he heard the deep voice of Gobber echo across the horizon, repeating once every few seconds.

 _They are still far enough away from the cove, I don't need to worry._

"Here!" he yelled back. He heard more yelling before the party reached him. As they arrived almost all of the Vikings dispersed, thinking that this was one of his 'childish games' that always caused the village trouble. Only three stayed behind after he was found, his father, Fishlegs, and Gobber .

"Where have you been, Hiccup?" his father demanded in the disapproving tone he always took when hiccup messed something up. It didn't bother him anymore though.

"In the woods," he deadpanned.

"Hiccup," his father's menacing stare dug into him.

 _need a better excuse, got it._

Hiccup cave a convincing defeated sigh, " I was preparing for my fight with the nightmare when time got away from me." He knew the blatant lie would tide over his suspicions.

"That's my boy," stoic shouted approvingly. "I remember when I had my first kill, I couldn't sleep either." he wrapped his muscular arm around his son and the group walked back to the village together. Stoic dominated the conversation recounting how the "Nadder head popped like a grape". Hiccup barley suppressed a shudder when his father described the gory sight in detail. When they walked back into the village hiccup slid out of his father's grasp and made a b-line to the forge. The small dimly lit closet was, in his opinion, the most beautiful thing on Berk. He had his own work table with his own blueprints and isolation from everyone but Gobber, it was paradise in the hell he called home. quickly bursting into the small room, hiccup collapsed on the comfortable leather seat and took account of what he needed to do for the day.

 _gather all of my blueprints and experiments, write notes to Gobber and dad, steal supplies , free the dragons in the arena, leave with toothless._

He heard the door to his workstation open before he was not in the mood to open his eyes and talk to his proud father so when he realized the large Viking in front of him was the shambling smith he gave a small thanks to Oden.

"So what is actually going on," he asked softy as he closed the door behind him.

 _taking back the blessing now Oden._

"Nothing," hiccup stuttered, feigning a smile.

"You know that never worked on me, Hiccup."

 _don't panic, take a deep breath, lie_

"Ok... I didn't go and train yesterday."

 _great lie brain_

"Don't want to kill it do ya?" Hiccup stopped, he didn't blink, didn't breath, just stopped. "Thought so..." Gobber mumbled.

" I... I do- ... I," Hiccup tried desperately to come up with a lie but failed to do so.

"Its fine, Hiccup. You don't have to if you don't want to." Hiccup was speechless. " I'll tell stoic for ye' and Astrid can fight the beast."

"I...I..." Hiccup regained his bearings. " ...Thank you Gobber."

"I'll tell stoic later tonight, no need to worry yourself over it lad." He smiled at hiccup before leaving the room, a utterly speechless Viking left behind him. After a few minutes Hiccup got to work taking his instruments and notebooks out from their designated places and packing them into his bag. When it was around mid day, hiccup started writing.

 _To Gobber,_

 _You were always there for me whenever my plans did not go as I expected and you allowed me my space to be me. You are the thing I will miss most but as you know, this island is not good for me. You have tried countless times to convince my father that what the other Vikings do to me is wrong and it still has done nothing. Caring for me as you have done is the only thing that has gotten me this far and for this I shall tell you the truth._

 _To everyone else I have left notes to describe my disappearance as a need to run away because I do not want to be a Viking. In part this is true, however the reason is not. I have discovered the truth about dragons and no longer consider them as mindless beasts. I have befriended one of their kind. They have language and complex thoughts and I cannot in good conscious kill one of them. If you want to tell them what I believe you can, I will leave the decision up to you. Also, forget trying to destroy the nest. The dragon queen that lurks there is larger than the entire village and will kill any Viking who dares approach her. She is controlling the dragon and the cause of the raids we have had to endure. I will try and fight her eventually but I am not currently convinced with my abilities to do so._

 _Thank you for being there_

 _-Hiccup_

Gobber never told the rest of the tribe about his letter.

 _Father,_

 _I now see that I cannot live up to your expectations as a Viking, nor ever be chief. I am leaving to lessen the burden that I am on the village but I will always remember you. Thank you for tying to be the best father you could._

 _ps. Astrid would make the best chief after yourself_

 _-Hiccup_

He leaned back in his chair as he looked at the two envelopes and thought about how each recipient would react. Out of the pair, Gobber was the wild card. His concern for Hiccup was obvious but the young Viking couldn't risk Toothless's life on a hunch that he would accept the dragon. He packed up his stuff and his letters and left them by the back door to the forge and left to complete the rest of the tasks that he needed to complete.

The store house in the center of the village was abandoned during the day, a trait that made his job much easier. Out of necessity, it was the only stone building that they had ever bothered to construct. Hiccup had heard horror stories from when their original wooden store house was destroyed and the village was forced to endure a harsh winter with almost no food. Inside was a simple dry room stuffed to the brim with salted meets and pickled vegetables. The food didn't taste good but it kept you alive and that was all hiccup needed. He snuck in and out without being noticed and left the supplies by the door in the forge.

Working in the forge, he awaited the day's end, only leaving his work to eat his lunch and dinner. The weapons that the village wanted were always so rudimentary and simple, unlike the work he had done with toothless and his flight gear. The monotony of it would have let him drift to sleep if it wasn't so physically demanding. He always loved working in the forge and he would miss its familiar soot covered walls greatly. Hours past and he found himself looking out of the forge's window at dusk. It was the last sunset he would see on Berk and we wanted to enjoy it while he had the chance. Unfortunately Gobber didn't adhere to that plan.

Hiccup jumped when the large Viking patted him on the back which gave Gobber a slight chuckle.

"If you are going to try anything I would suggest doin' it now," Gobber said with a melancholy smile across his face.

"What are you talking about?" hiccup asked with a faked smile that didn't cover up his shock and horror. Gobber only raised an eyebrow.

 _He knows... no point in hiding it._

"How did you figure it out?"

"I'm may be deaf but I'm not blind. I can tell when someone's packing for a trip," he said, gesturing to the back of the forge. "Don't worry, I'm not going to stop you. You are fairly tough, despite all of this." Gobber gestured in hiccup's direction and the smaller Viking got a small chuckle out of their ongoing joke. Unlike the other teens, Gobber knew when to stop teasing the boy and they both enjoyed the verbal sparring that they practiced when work in the forge was light.

He tried to hide it but a single tear crawled down hiccups face as he turned around and hugged the overweight man. "Thank you Gobber." The older man hugged back realizing that this might be the last time he would ever see his apprentice. Hiccup ran out the door after dropping Gobber's letter under a pile of work that he was yet to complete. He would get to it in the morning. Hiccup dropped his father's letter on the back steps of his house, not going inside to avoid any words that would give away his plan.

All the errands were done and Hiccup double and triple checked his bag before making his way to the edge of the forest. He found himself on the same path he always used to travel between his the village and the cove except now he carried two bags full of supplies. He thought in his head about where he wanted to build his base and a new forge. A small island farther south sounded good to him, they usually had calmer winters and the temperate climate would allow him to leave for months at a time without the fear of his island drowning under a torrent of water or being crushed by a mountain of snow. Before he did any exploring which he dreamed of, he would need better equipment. The flight gear that now clung to Toothless's back was a rushed job used only to help the dragon fly again. A proper saddle and a better tailfin would be the first thing on his list of things to make. A close second was something to wear. The wool shirt and messy pants that he wore when flying toothless just wouldn't work in the long term if the wind burns were anything to judge by. Falling off the dragon without any sort of armor was suicide and his green shirt and pale skin did little to help the dragons stealth capabilities. Before any of these luxuries though, he would need food. The supplies that he now carried with him would not last forever. A steady of food that did not come from fishing with toothless, the dragon may not always be in good health and fish only didn't make for a good rounded diet.

The ideas that floated around his head stopped though when he heard a twig snap from behind him. He didn't slow his pace or stop though, he just became aware of the Viking following him. His heart pumped viciously while he walked casually down the path. He was almost to the cove and he no longer needed to avoid hiding toothless from the world, if the shadow decided to attack it wouldn't a problem. He was within ear show of the cove now, he saw the rocky outcropping and could almost feel toothless worry as the scent of another Viking entered his nose.

Hiccup feigned exhaustion, putting one hand on a nearby tree and stopping. he yawned loudly and inside of it he slipped a word in the dragon's tong. _Hide_

The dragon did as he was told and was out of site when the young by entered the cove. Hiccup glanced over to the moss covered rock where his friend was hiding. If hiccup had not known about the creature before he would have never had seen the sleek black dragon blending in with the shadows. While he was waiting for whoever it was to make his move he started to pack everything and got ready to fit his supplies onto the saddle.

He heard the soft feet on the cove's shore as the Viking entered the canyon. He allowed whoever it was to approach closer before he looked up , ensuring that toothless could block the exit. He looked up at the light-footed person following him, it was Astrid.

"You know I never took you for the type of person who would follow a person instead of demanding where they were going," he said with a smirk as the caught girl regained her composure.

"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded, producing an ax from behind her back to threaten him with.

\I can handle this/ _._ Hiccup crooned to the hidden dragon who's eyes were now slits glaring daggers into the young woman.

"What?" She was now a few steps from the confident Viking which had taken her place.

"I said that I'm leaving." His tone was impassive and slightly smug as he saw the girl's face twist into thousands of different emotions.

"You can't do that, you'll die!" she yelled, hiccup wondered why she was flustered now when she had not shown a hint of compassion for him in the last fifteen years.

"No I won't." Hiccups tone did not change.

"What will your dad think?"

"Don't know, don't care." He went back to checking over his gear. He was sure that he had everything he needed but the look on Astird's face as the young nerd ignored her was priceless.

" You are not leaving," she announced in the most confident Viking voice she could, yet in truth Hiccup's attitude disturbed her greatly. She stepped forward, intent on grabbing the crouched Viking by the collar when he suddenly whipped his head up to meet her gaze. His eyes where hard and full of fire. Unknown to her a dragon had started to approach her from behind.

"If you ever touch me again, you will pay for it. Before you ask, no this isn't a threat, it's a promise," hiccups icy words and cold confidence did not deter her and she reached out to grab him. " toothless," he called with a smile, while the confused girl was pinned to the ground just in front of him. Her face and arms were pinned to the dirt as her view was enveloped with a mass of black scales. Panic welled up inside her she felt the slow reverberations within its chest let out an inhuman growl that only hiccup could understand.

\Should we kill her?/

"No... It's not worth it..."

\but she hurt you!/

" We are not killing her. She might be chief one day and this," he gestured to the dragon sitting on the squirming and now screaming youth. "may may make her more able to accept dragons... plus she is one of the more reasonable ones..."

toothless huffed in frustration before both of them focused back on Astrid.

"I demand to know what is going on here !" she screamed. Hiccup bent down in the most patronizing way he would manage and explained.

"The dragon that is now sitting on you I trust with my life. I will not let him die so we are leaving but only after releasing every dragon in the arena. It is horrendous what we do to these intelligent creatures and I intend to try to make it right. "

"What?! Friends with those mindless beasts?!"

\are you sure we can't kill her./

Hiccup huffed in defeat and disappointment, \yeah, I'm sure/

"And you talk to them?!" She hadn't stopped yelling.

"toothless, let me put the bags on you while you're there. It will save time."

"Toothless? You named THAT?" Astrid demanded, her voice had broken and she hadn't stopped yelling. Hiccup started to attach the bags to the saddle with a devious smile on his face while he tried to explain.

"Well his real name is," hiccup then made an unintelligible noise somewhere between a growl and a hiss. " But we both agreed that toothless was better."

\You still pronounce it wrong/

\Cut me some slack, its hard with human vocal chords/

"You speak to them?" Astrid was now questioning if she was still awake and whether or not the mushrooms she had eaten earlier were safe. This couldn't be happening, could it?

"Yep, I just got the basics for right now but I have been practicing whenever I can."

"How?"

Hiccup shrugged at the astounded girl before attaching the last bag onto the saddle, " I listened instead of killing first and asking questions later."

"but.. but... they kill us and raid our village constantly. How could you forgive that?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes at the stuttering Viking before walking around the amused dragon to look her in the face. "Well we're going now and you are staying here. Try and hurt me or him when he lets you go and I won't stop him from killing you. So don't try anything."

\no, please do try something/ Hiccup rolled his eyes at his companions comment before the dragon slowly got off of the Viking. Now standing, Astrid turned around and ran as fast as she could back to the village, yelling for most of the way.

"That could have gone better," hiccup deadpanned as he hopped on his friend. " Let's go get those dragons out and ditch this place."

\Should we worry about her?/

" She won't make it back to the village in time to stop us, so why bother?"

\good point, let's go/

Hiccup locked his foot in the saddle. toothless unfolded his wings and with a powerful push rocketed into the sky, only barely weighed down by the cargo he carried. Any observer from the ground would not have been able to see the impressive display of dexterity that both parties displayed as they shot across the island. The few that did pass their eyes over hiccup and toothless saw nothing but a small black shadow crawl across the dark sky. That shadow landed on the outskirts of the village, next to the arena. It was night and almost every Viking was already asleep. The training arena was a circular pit, the only entrance was a well constructed gate and a chain net covered the top of it. Hiccup slowly opened the gate and walked over to the cages, toothless shortly behind him. He slithered over to the Nadder's cage and unlocked the mechanism that held the cage shut. It made much more noise then what he would have liked but it still wasn't enough to rouse the sleeping Vikings that slept calmly in the village.

\Who goes there?/ she demanded with a lowed hiss.

\Hush, It's me. I'm getting everyone out of here. Don't make noise./

toothless nodded approvingly at hiccups skill with the language. He had improved much over the last month. it still sounded badly translated and forced, but it would do. The Nadder sat up against the back wall of her damp cage but slowly began to rise. A small spout of flame escaped her yawning mouth, briefly illuminating the surroundings with a orange glow. \Thank you youngling, your help is appreciated./ She slowly walked into the arena and began stretching her wings in preparation for flight.

\The door is open but don't leave yet. We don't want the Vikings to know that we are here before we are all prepared to go./

She grunted in approval. \I have been trapped here for years. A few more minutes is nothing compared to that./

with the Nadder gladly stretching behind him hiccup moved on to the next dragon, the terror.

\Thank you human. I heard what you told the others and will get prepared to fly./ Hiccup was slightly surprised at the deep regal rumble that escaped the small dragon. Toothless later explained that it was a way to earn respect among the softer spoken larger dragons. After the small green dragon strut out from his cage hiccup moved over to the next dragon.

When hiccup opened the nightmare's cage the large red dragon was waiting for him. Hiccup stood in front of the open door as the dragon looked him over menacingly. The red horned creature did not move from where it had started but the menacing glare that he shot at hiccup was enough to enrage toothless. Leaping over hiccup and forcing his rider to the ground, toothless put himself between the Viking and the fierce questioning glare of the monstrous nightmare.

\If you harm him I will kill you,/ toothless roared, ignoring the silence they had lingered in since they left the cove.

\We can all smell that you vouch for the man-beast. I do not understand it and do not approve... but I will not harm him because of the help you have given us. / hiccup was having a hard time keeping track of the specifics of the quick conversation but he understood what the dragon had meant.

\thank you for our freedom,/ the two heads of the zippleback said in tandem. When hiccup learned more about the particular dragon in front of him he was surprised how willing it was. Normally the two heads argued constantly, it was a surprise the two could manage to fly with both heads yearning for control of the singular body. When all of the dragons were out of the dragons were ready, the pack flew out of the arena and traveled south. They found rest a few hours before dawn on a uninhabited island and as hiccup drifted to sleep wrapped in his friends wings he thought back to his life. That had been the last day he would spend on Berk. He felt no sadness, no homesickness, no regret. Hiccup was happy as he drifted to sleep with his friend.

Hiccup awoke to the blinding morning sun which toothless had revealed as he opened his wings.

"Five more minutes," Hiccup grumbled, digging his face deeper into toothless scales to escape the sun's cruel light .

\Nope. We have too much to do and I want these bags off me as quick as possible... I feel like a horse,/ toothless crooned, looking down at the boy within his claws.

"Big baby," hiccup muttered.

\Ok, that's it,/ toothless growled as he grabbed the boys arms within his claws and started to furiously cover the boy in his saliva.

" STOP, STOP, Ok. I'm awake," hiccup yelled. The amused night fury let out a hardy laugh as hiccup shoved himself up and tried to clean himself of the disgusting liquid. He flicked bits of it back at the reptile witch only made him laugh more. He was easily the loudest thing on the island as he rolled on his back, unable to stop himself. "Really?" hiccup asked with his arms spread to show how wet he actually was.

If dragons could cry from joy, toothless would have been. After a few seconds he composed himself and got on his back feet.\yes really,/ he deadpanned. In frustration hiccup ran up tackled the stuck up Nightfury, trying to pin him to the ground.

Unknown to either hiccup or toothless four dragons were gawking at the pair from behind them. None of the dragons knew what to make of the shocking display. The monsters that hunted and killed them on mass was playing with the most feared of their kind. None of the dragons would say anything about the encounter but when the others where alone they marveled at the relationship they shared.

Out of the other dragons that they had rescued, only the Nadder decided to stay with them. she had decided on the human name of Stormfly, after a brief discussion with Hiccup. Once the immediate danger had passed hiccup fell back into the comfortable problem solving state he had been in when he built toothless's tail. The two dragons were annoyed by the constant questions but they did not complain after he explained his ideas. Creating things was Hiccups passion and time with talking with the dragons only encouraged it.

 _Hiccups journal, post Berk_

 _I have started to ask Stormfly and toothless about the biological functions of dragons and the potential uses of these. So far I have taken note of four things._

 _1\. When a dragon hatch or the dragon dies inside the egg, the egg explodes. I do not plan to apply this knowledge but it is something to keep in mind. whole clutches of eggs can be destroyed in one of these explosions and any future dragon nurseries will need to account for this._

 _2\. The most interesting thing I have learned over the past week is the growth cycles of dragons. Once every few months a dragon will shed to allow room for growth. Impressively, dragons can resist the urge to molt indefinitely if their current circumstances are not safe. I believe this is why we have never hear of this happening back on Berk. I have asked both toothless and Stormfly to allow me to collect their useless scales after they have she them in the hopes of using them in smiting. Dragon scales are notoriously tough and sturdy. I cannot wait to experiment with them._

 _3\. What I originally assumed to be magic within my new found friends is nothing but a very complex biological system. Dragons fire is not magical. It varies from dragon to dragon but from what I have learned, dragons fire is either a ball of a mucus like substance or a gas which the dragon ignites as it leaves its mouth. that isn't even the best part. The dragon must consciously ignite this fuel for it to be used. If the dragon does not ignite it, the fuel just pour out of its mouth. I believe that I can collect Tothless's mucus-fuel with ease but collecting Nadder's or other dragons is going to be harder. I will begin my experiments when we have found a home and when I have a working forge._

 _side notes: toothless is getting really fed up with having to carry our supplies. We may have to choose a home soon. Also I can't come up with a name for the language of dragons. What sounds better, Draconic, dragon's tongue or dragoneze..._

 _4\. stormfly's tail spikes regenerate every two weeks. They are not as strong as dragon scales but appear to be very light. This might be a possible replacement for the iron rods that make up toothless's tail. Flexible, strong, hard, fireproof. I have asked to collect them from her and after some pestering from me and toothless she has agreed, I will start experiments when we find a home._

Under the pressure of a tired and inpatient toothless, he decided to unpack and call the small land mass his home for the foreseeable future. by the end of the week hiccup and toothless had found a small island about two days travel from the nearest village.

The island was hardly larger than the village square but what it lacked in size it made up in natural defenses. The fertile island was not a just an island but a platu which jutted out from the story ocean with a fifty feet high sheer cliff. The brilliant blue water battered the edge of it allowing no vessel to come anywhere close to it. A small cave was dug into the center of the large rock by a long gone dragon. Hiccup failed to identify the creature but he was grateful that it was many times taller than himself so the tunnel was large and spacious . The shelter was damp and spotted with moss but those were just minor issues. The only thing he did not favor was the lack of any lumber to work with. If he was going to build any permanent structure on the island he would have to convince toothless and Stormfly to help him. The rations that hiccup packed would last him three more months if he supplemented it with fish caught by toothless. After that he would need to find another source of food or rely completely on the sea.

The packs that toothless had been very quick to complain about contained everything he thought he would need. From the forge he brought a simple set of smiting tools and the extinctive notes he had taken concerning weaponry and dragons. Other than that he took with him his knife, a large quantity of raw steel, iron, leather, and bronze . As per his request the dragons had filled the cave with fire, killing the moss and cleaning the walls. After landing on the first day, hiccup unloaded the cargo from his friends back and organized it within the cave.

The sun began to set over the open ocean as hiccup and toothless sat on the edge of the cliff. the sleek black dragon was covered with the rigging required for flight and his crude leather tail fin was wrapped around his human. Everyone was exhausted from the day's work but toothless was just glad to have the bags off of him.

\do you want to go flying?/ Toothless crooned, nudging hiccup with his head.

"Do I have a choice?"

\not really/

Hiccup chuckled before getting up and stretching. " Ok, let's go bud."

Hiccup jumped onto his friend's saddled back and locked himself in. His feet felt the mechanism for the tail fin as he checked its movements. Without giving any warning toothless dived off of the sheer cliff they sat on and they both relished in the brief second of bliss that came with falling. They hugged the mossy rock face as they plummeted towards the quickly approaching water. Pulling up, the pair skimmed the water's surface, shooting over the deep blue waters below them . The fresh ocean water battered both of them as they began to climb higher into the sky. \Do you want to see how fast we can really go?/ toothless asked.

"Let's," hiccup shouted over the roar of the air. Hiccup loved flight as much as any dragon; He wouldn't the euphoric rush of plummeting through the clouds attached to his best friend for anything. After a minute of climbing hiccup looked across the horizon. He could just see the white sails of a trader heading to a nearby settlement and the shores of the closest village pop off of the endless disk of blue. Hiccup found it funny how slow sailing was compared to flying. It would have taken two days to travel between his island yet he could do it in minutes on the back of Toothless.

They reached the peak of their climb and the pair looked down to see their small island as a speck of green among the large pools of blue. Toothless then tucked over and they both dived. It was easily the highest hiccup had ever been and the fastest he had ever flown. Toothless pumped his wings down faster gave them more and more speed. After a second of appreciating the insane feat they were in the midst of accomplishing, hiccup pressed his body to toothless back and franticly clung onto the dragon. The wind roared as they accelerated, after a second it was the only thing hiccup was able to hear . After a few more seconds of being battered by the wind, Hiccup could no longer open his eyes to look ahead of him. Not willing to give up in the face of the cruel wind, he clenched his eyes and pressed his face into the black dragon's saddle. He couldn't be heard over the wind so he didn't bother. He left control completely up to his friend as he relied on his knowledge of Toothless's movements to guide his foot. Pounding the air with his wings, nearly a minute into the dive toothless pushed his strained muscles to the breaking point. Toothless tucked his wings and continued to free fall through the air that burned hiccups soft flesh. The small boy started frantically tapping on toothless to stop when wind made it nearly impossible to breath. They pulled out of the dive slowly, doing so was a tremendous strain on the dragon's wing joints. If he was not careful he could have easily dislocated both of them, killing both of them as they plunged into the ocean below. They pulled around and began to circle the island until the wind calmed enough for them to hear each.

When they landed hiccup ignored his aching body and took out his notebook. Toothless was surprised when hiccup told him of the experience from his point of view. \you humans are odd. You can't even breath right,/ he joked. The lighthearted purpose of the dragons joke did not cheer up Hiccup and a wave of white hot determination rushed over the boy. It was the same feeling that he had received a few weeks earlier when he had learned that toothless was not able to fly.

 _Hiccup's journal, post berk-2_

 _I have learned that I am not able to fly with toothless when he travels near his top speed. I will need to make a flight suit that can attach Tighter to him so i don't nearly kill myself when i fly with him. It also needs to allow me to see out off and somehow shield my eyes from the wind. I fear this will also require a better tail fin and saddle, I do not want to fall him off those speeds._

Hiccup slept soundly that night. He fell into the familiar darkness wrapped in toothless warm wings. His bruises and wind burns didn't feel as bad when he was in those black leathery covers.

 **The next day**

\Are you sure you want to go to that village?/ stormily asked as their group sat around a fire pit which hiccup had built the previous night.

"It's not that I want to, I have to. I need supplies to build a new forge and I can't get those without going to a village," hiccup explained as he checked over toothless's flight gear. As he feared, the flight they had taken the previous night had caused minor damage to the tail fin which would need to be repaired eventually. It was still flight capable but they shouldn't try flying that fast again.

\I agree that we need supplies but I would be lying if I said I was comfortable with this,/ toothless crooned in a protective tone.

"It will be fine, " hiccup reassured. " We'll land in the forest on the outskirts of the village and I'll walk in looking for work. No one will suspect anything."

\ I find that hard to believe,/ toothless crooned in a slightly mocking pitch. Hiccup finished the pre-flight check and got into the saddle.

"I'm not going to get hurt, I have a night fury guarding me like a mother bear."

\I don't understand that metaphor./

Hiccups only response was a soft chuckle before pushing the dragon to the edge of the cliff. Toothless didn't hesitate as the pair fell to the chaotic ocean beneath them.

The village looked similar to Berk when it came to the construction of its homes and buildings. Most were made out of wood reinforced with iron, but unlike his home , the homes looked old. Most of the homes and buildings on Berk were hastily constructed because of the eternal war with the dragons. In the center of town stood a massive mead hall and a town square filled to the brim with merchants and traders. There was also a busy port filled to the brim with fishermen and traders by the sandy coastline. He let his lips curve into a meek smile as he looked over the town. The forest on the outskirts of the settlement were the same tough evergreen pines he had grown accustom to on Berk and the feeling of comfort that came with them made hiccup smile.

The small patch of land which they landed in was adjacent to a small flowing river in the dense forest. Toothless landed on the wet stones along the rivers banks and let hiccup get off. The day was unusual hot by berks standards but it was perfectly comfortable for both toothless and hiccup. Hiccup re-checked Toothless's flight gear and prepared for a speedy exit before started making his way to the village square.

\Don't get yourself killed,/ he had heard toothless croon from behind him.

He wasn't given many looks as he exited the forest. The sheer amount of traders and fishermen made it impossible to tell who wasn't expected to be there. The square itself was lined with well carved cobblestones and was had a circular pattern of stalls fill the crowded space. As was normal to hiccup, many of the local inhabitants where large bulky Vikings witch dwarfed him in size and strength and many of them were carrying cargo or purchasing goods. He was completely ignored, as was normal. Through a brief conversation with a fletcher he learned that the village's name was Ingvilgard (prenounced: ing-vill-guard). Hiccup exited the square and made his way between the crowded streets until he found what he was looking for.

The towns smith was on the outskirts of the town but the constant hammering drew hiccup towards the activity which he took pleasure in. A counter was manned by a young boy as sounds of metal work could be heard from the back of the sturdy wooden structure that resonated with heat. The boy reminded him of himself when he was younger havingrough orange hair decorating the top of his freckled head and a body without mussel. He looked a few years younger than hiccup and was a bit smaller as well. When comparing himself to the younger boy Hiccup realized that his shirt and pants were discussing. He hadn't changed out of them in a week and he had slept with them on. After a bitter growl escaped his lips he walked up to the counter.

"Hello what can we do for you?" The child asked politely. Hiccup could tell it was rehearsed and smiled as he remembered the many days when had done the sam.

"I was wondering if you knew where I could find some work," hiccup said in the friendliest tone he could muster. Before he was halfway done with the sentence, the constant hammering that was shaping steel deeper in the forge stop and a large muscular man walk up to the counter from somewhere unseen.

His sharp facial features were similar to other war scarred Vikings he knew but his body was different. Unlike normal Viking warriors, this man's mussel was clear and well defined. He was not fat. His exposed forearms showed the burn scars that most smiths carried and his posture reminded hiccup of some of the less pleasing talks with his father. Yet the most shocking thing about him was that he lacked any facial hair, something unheard of on Berk.

"If you want work go talk to the chief. I already have a appurtenance." His voice was softer than hiccup would have expected out of the hardy Viking. Hiccup reasoned that his kindness stemmed from his dirty and beggar-like appearance.

"Thank you sir," hiccup replied with a smile before he turned to leave. He was only three paces away from the smith when he heard something from behind him.

\Can we get back to work now?/ The faint annoyed tone of a dragon dug its way into hiccups scull and he stopped where he stood.

\Shut up, he heard you,/ hissed the stocky man under his breath. hiccup was frozen, it couldn't be... could it? The man and the child behind him cringed as hiccup turned back around.

He walked back up to the stand and both the man and the boy wore fake smiles, hiccup could tell they were hiding something. On a hunch he greeted them in dragon's tongue.

\hello?/ hiccup crooned. The smith and his apprentice looked at each other, than back to hiccup, then each other. They were both stunned beyond words.

Before anyone could say anything a frenzied squawk came from the back followed by a crash.

\Jonathan, hide!/ It was out of sight from the front but he could almost sense a small terrible terror hiding under something. Hiccup giggled slightly while the other two people took the dragon's warning seriously and turned around.

\What?!/ the large man, whose name was apparently Jonathan , hissed.

\Some things close... something bad... smells like.../ The small dragon was cowering in the corner of the forge while the human's inside tried desperately to make sense of the situation.

On a hunch hiccup guessed,\Night fury/. The word was one of the first he had learned in part of the strange language and it was a deep growl that almost mimicked thunder. He would need to thank toothless later for the constant sent markings, apparently he smelled more like the dragon than he though.

The two humans looked back up at hiccup. " Did you want to come inside?" the smaller boy asked. He was first to recover from the shock that had gone through the three.

"Yes, yes I would," Hiccup said with a smile as he waltzed into the forge. hiccup hadn't realized how feared his friend was, even if the dragon himself acted like a child half the time.

The older man who had still not said anything but he closed the counters shutters and all of the windows. After a moment of awkward silence he pulled up three chairs to the weapon covered table in the center of the room. After the two others sat down, hiccup did the same.

"Start talking," the older man bit. He was now held a much harsher tone then before.

Taking more confidence then he knew he had Hiccup replied," I was about to ask you the same thing."

"You're in my forge, asking me questions, and for my help: you go first." the younger boy had shrunk out of sight by this point. He was obviously distressed with the Jonathan's words or tone.

Hiccup thought through the logic and nodded. " Ok, my name is... " Hiccup stopped.

 _If I use my real name I will be recognized eventually..._

"Mudge... my name is mudge." Jonathan saw strait though the lie but allowed it to go unchecked. " your turn."

"Ok, Mudge. My name is Jonathan, that is Caleb," he gestured to the boy trying to disappear from his seat. "and that is Sharpshot," He pointed to the dragon that hiccup hadn't noticed. It was under a workbench and against the wall trying to hide from hiccup's sight. its bright blue eyes glowed against the backdrop of its dark green scales. "Why do you smell like night fury?"

Hiccup was hesitant at first to tell the man but glanced over to the agitated dragon and thought better of it. Whoever these people where they were friends of dragons. "I smell like a night fury because my best friend is a night fury."

Hiccup didn't bother to stifle a laugh when both human's jaws fell to the floor.

"How... how were you able to control such a beast."

Hiccup scoffed and glanced over to the dragon on the floor, "Do you think of him as a beast?"

"No but... they are just a legend... they don't even exist anymore... how did you..."

Hiccup had feared this. Toothless had always told him that he remembered little of his life before being captured by the queen's control. The information might be faulty but still it was discouraging to the prospects of ever reunited toothless with his family. Hiccup put up a hand to stop the sputtering Viking, " I will answer any questions you may have if you can find me a job. Preferably something that I can do quickly and pays well."

The other Viking nodded, " come with me tonight, we'll talk to the chief. I think he has something that you and your dragon would be able to do. Until then I must ask you to keep our villages dragons a secret, if the other tribes found out..." he trailed off but hiccup understood.

"Would you mind If I helped you work until then. I'm interested to see if your methods are any different from my own."

The room relaxed as the conversation moved away from dragons and into smiting, something they all had in common. "I am fine with it. If you have any questions ask Caleb.

Hiccup got comfortable in his space within the familiar workspace and began to take notes.

 _Hiccups journal, post berk-3_

 _I have come across a group of Vikings on Ingvilgard_ _which understand dragons like I have come to. Their experiences will be useful in the future however I am yet to solidify them as a ally._

 _flight: They don't fly dragons here but the metal and glass I have noticed in the forge is a good candidate for materials for a proper helmet._

 _forging: it does not surprise me that ingvilgard has higher quality steel then what I am used to. Berk is rather small and weapons break to often to invest in better metals . With this better quality steel I also came upon a new technique: folding the metal over on itself multiple times will strengthen the bonds within the metal. Also rumors exist witch state that gronicals can transmute metals into higher qualities of what they inject. I am tempted to try this out with toothless but he will probably just scoff at the idea..._

 _Ingvilgard: From my discussions with Caleb no one on Ingvilgard "has been stupid enough to ride a dragon". furthermore, it appears that the only dragons on the island are hidden whenever any traders are visiting to keep the islands secret from the rest of the world. This restriction limits the number and verity of dragons that are accepted in the village (but any is better than none at all). From what I gather the only dragons that permanently live in the village proper are small Nadders and Terrors._

 _Nightfurys: Almost as mysterious as they were on Berk, toothless's species is universally feared and the last sighting of his kind occurred five years ago. I hope that he isn't the last of his kind but if he isn't it will be interesting as they respond to me and his prosthetic. I hope what I did didn't stop him from ever socializing with his own kind again and I hate how i can hear his infuriating response in my head already "I chose you hiccup... My stupid Viking..."_

Hiccup looked up from his position at the desk and over to Jonathan who was still furiously pounding on a piece of metal. The smith was so much like the gentle smith from his village, it was uncanny. The awe of learning smiting for the first time was something he lamented, as he walked out of the forge heading down to the forest. The familiar path fell behind him and eventually he spotted the river where they had first landed.

Toothless was curled up against one of the trees, soundly sleeping . The deadly offspring of lightning and death looked innocent as a kitten as he slept. Seeing the sight of the cute nightfury for the first time on Berk was the reason why hiccup cast away his unfounded fear of the mysterious creatures. Inspire of everything that had happened, hiccup was happier now than he had ever been in the past.

\fish... fire...hiccup.../ toothless grumbled as he twitched in his sleep.

" So dragons do talk in their sleep," he said with a chuckle, pacing around the dragon.

Toothless eyes shot open as he recognized the voice of his friend. He called out for the Viking standing right behind him, \Hiccup?/

"Right here," hiccup called. toothless untangled himself from the tree and greeted his friend.

\Why were you gone for so long?/ he asked, pushing his muzzle into hiccups chest and staring protectively at him through his cavernous green eyes.

" you worry too much, bud" hiccup reassured, patting his friend on the head.

\you couldn't survive two days without me./

"You couldn't either."

The dragon opened his mouth to protest before slowly closing it after he realized the truth behind his friends words. He couldn't be angry at him though, he would have traded more than just a tail fin for his friendship. \so what happened,/ toothless asked again.

Hiccup explained the day's events so far in vivid detail to the dragon. Toothless unapologetically gloated when his sent markings did as they were designed to.

"Yes, I'm your human," hiccup assured at the dragons absurd level of protectiveness.

\yes.../ toothless responded. \and I'm your dragon./

They both chuckled before moving on to hiccups story, but Toothless's words shook hiccup. It may have been illogical to worry about the safety of a horse sized stealth dragon which is universally feared but hiccup did it anyway. He made note to invest in a weapon and learn how to use it eventually. Toothless wouldn't be the only one who could hold his own in a fight.

 **Later**

Hiccup had taken a flight with the dragon to catch lunch for them. The regurgitated fish didn't have the best appeal at first but hiccup had gotten used to the slight aftertaste of dragon salvia. another added bonus, hiccup had a dragon which could cook the entire fish almost instantly at his request. At first Toothless needed to learn how to adjust his flames temperature so it wouldn't instantly incinerate the fish but eventually he got the hang of it. hiccup sat against his friends midsection while he ate, they talked about what hiccup planed for the future.

\Are you sure you want to try and kill the queen?/ toothless asked nervously

"Killing her is the only way to stop the war," he said with a sigh. " Unless you think she can be reasoned with."

\Killing it is,/ toothless deadpanned.

"it's getting late. I should head back forge."

\Do you want me to come with you?/

"Not yet. I don't know how they will react and I haven't told them that I ride you or that your here."

\Are you expecting a quick exit?/

"not really but i don't want to take chances."

\Just call if you need me./

Toothless watched as his rider disappeared back into the forest. After a few minutes he clambered up the tallest tree he could find and looked out over the village. The few dragons he saw nearby scattered immediately after they had spotted the black shape. It didn't really bother him that he was feared, he enjoyed hiccups company more than any dragons.

Hiccup returned to the forge as the sun began to set. The traders and visitors to the village had long sense left and dragons started to appear wandering the street under the glow of the red sky. A group of four small blue dragons lined the log spine of the forge, a sight that brought a melancholy smile to his face. He would give almost anything to see the same sight over his forge back on Berk but it's inhabitance god like stubbornness made that an impossible dream.

Jonathan was soaked in sweat by the day's end. Hiccup recognized the exhausted look upon the Vikings face and faintly smiled. Smithing was harder work than many thought. heating metal until it became pliable and then smashing, grinding , molding or bending that incredibly hot metal often left the smith sweaty, discussing and ready to collapse.

"If you still want work, let's get you to the mead hall," he said, trying desperately to not allow any of the fatigue seep into his voice. Jonathan shed his apron and walked hiccup through the village. Caleb, the child that reminded him so much like himself stayed at the forge, claiming that he ate supper earlier. Hiccup didn't protest, he remembered how hard it had been some days to drag himself to the hall packed with people so he didn't push the kid.

The circular square which was earlier packed with merchants now glowed with the soft light of the nearby torches. Small dragons scampered around the square but gave hiccup a large berth. From the square a small stony path, a set of intricately carved set of stairs climbed to the highest point of the village. Upon the moor stood the village's hall; The ornately painted wooden building held room for the entire village to comfortably sit and enjoy a meal.

Hiccup looked up from the mead hall and back to the forest. He spied the soft glimmer of black dragon scales off of the tip of the tallest tree. Both of them felt the others anxiety, despite the distance. He could have sworn that he heard his friends draconic hissing within his head, \be careful hiccup./ Toothless was similarly surprised when the humans soothing human words filled his head as well, " I will." It was just a feeling though, neither party thought what they had just experienced was possible. It was nothing.

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The grand doors, inscribed with holy Norse symbols, parted revealing large bone chandlers chained to the vaulted ceiling. Three rows of tables lined the center of the rectangular room, each was filled with large Vikings shoveling a mixture of mead, fish and every vegetable that dared grow in the harsh climate down their throat . At the end of the rows stood a head table at which sat a large Viking man who wore the garb, braid, and aura of a chief. Hiccup followed shortly behind his guide as they weaved between wooden supports on the edge of the room, ending in front of the head table and the questioning gaze of the chief. Hiccup had noticed how every dragon in the room, most of which were hardly larger than a dog, avoided him. Mummers of the legendary Nightfury echoed through the hall. The room came to a hushed whisper when hiccup approached the front table and the tribes chief.

Within the palpable tension in the silent room, hiccup tried desperately not to stare at the large scar that passed diagonally over the chiefs face. He The bulky man was physically imposing, even when sitting he was almost taller than hiccup. He wore a white fur cloak and was sitting in front of a half eaten leg of venison. Just barely in sight, a small green dragon clung to his back, whispering in his ear . Interestingly, the dragons scales almost perfectly matched the color of his unnaturally green eyes which now looked hiccup over.

"Chief, this boy here wanted to talk to you," Jonathan announced pushing hiccup forward slightly. Hiccup hated how familiar this seemed to him. So had he broken something in the dragon raid again?

"Hello, sir. my name is Mudge. I came here looking for work," hiccup announced loudly, hoping the volume of his voice would hide his anxiety.

"Why do you smell like night fury?"The response from the large Viking was as gruff and gravely as he expected from a scared veteran of war but it was the lack of any hostility which bothered hiccup. Every Viking chief he had ever dealt with was outwardly hostile to visitors. Those who weren't were just hiding their plotting to kill you...

"he's just a friend," hiccup said, his timid voice echoing through the silent hall. The tension held for a second while the chief mulled over hiccups words.

"You don't smell like just a friend." The chief looked behind hiccup to the rows of on edge Vikings and dragons. All of their eyes fell upon him.

" Your right," hiccup admitted to the Vikings as well as himself. "He is the closest thing I have to family."

The chief mulled this over some more and took a swig of the ale that sat at the table. "What type of job do you want?" he asked casually. Upon hearing that the chief's implied approval, noise returned to the hall and hiccup was largely ignored once more.

" I would be grateful with anything that doesn't leave me tied down to the village," hiccup said, letting his anxiety leave him.

The chief ran his hands though it beard as he thought, "Is that night fury protective?"

"Very," hiccup said with a smile.

"Do you have a fast boat or horse?"

His smile only grew wider, " Yes I have access to travel."

The choice of words which the small boy chose did not pass unnoticed by the chief or the dragon on his shoulder but they did not question it. "Good, you can be my messenger." Jonathan paled

" Are you sure that's wise... after the last one," Jonathan interjected meekly.

The chief turned his gaze to the smith and gave him a glare that could cut glass, " He has the protection of a night fury and he is not part of the village. His safety is none of our concern." He returned his attention to hiccup, " Do you understand that this job will be very dangerous and are you willing to do it anyway?"

"Yes and yes," hiccup replied.

"good... after the feast you will receive a letter addressed to chief Drang of the onyx island to congratulate him on his marriage. Give the letter to him and return to me for payment."

As the chief promised, he was handed a sealed scroll after the feast. Even though he had not immediately been killed there was still the murmuring and whispers that encircled him and his "tamed devil". After receiving the wax sealed parchment, Hiccup snuck back to the forest listening into any passing conversations along the way. From what he gathered the last messenger was killed by pirates and was much older than hiccup. A group of drunken Vikings wondered if he knew a nightfury at all, despite the testimony of the villages draconic inhabitants. Hiccup shrugged off the hidden insults and judgment, as long as toothless was with him he held no fear.

It was completely dark as he stumbled back through the moonlit woods. After a few minutes he noticed that he was being followed. From the glances he had managed to take out of the corner of his eye, he counted four teenage Vikings, they were not much older then himself . Holding the calm exterior which he had mastered, he kept following the path he was on, shooting weary glances at them whenever he got the chance. He grimaced when he caught the small glint of the moon off of an exposed blade, He needed to get to toothless. For some strange reason his is eyes wandered to a unremarkable piece of the canopy, at least he thought it unremarkable until he caught sight of the small glints of moonlight against black scales. He didn't know how he was able to spy the dragon among the dark pines but he didn't think on that for long. He was now more worried about his pursuers health. They may have just made the worst mistake of their lives but Hiccup didn't want that to be the last mistake of their lives.

 _"Don't kill them. If they wanted to kill me they would have tried already."_

 _\I know, I have been watching. confront them here so I can help if you need it./_

 _"toothless..."_

 _\I noticed it too, question it later/_

 _"I know but-"_

 _\Later./_

 _"ok, fine."_

Despite the reverberations of the words inside both of their heads, neither of them had spoken.

Hiccup veered off of the trodden path and tucked behind a tree. The soft padding of feet that echoed behind him stopped as well.

"Where did he go?" said a hushed feminine whisper behind him.

"hush..." a masculine whisper silenced the first.

They walked softly up to where Hiccup was. they were only feet away when hiccup decided to reveal himself. He stepped into the middle of the path and faced his caught followers. He couldn't see much in the moonlight but he made out enough. Two red haired women were the leaders of their party, behind them was a heavier Viking around Fishlegs's size. Besides him was a young man who held himself surprisingly similar to Snotlout with his smug expression of superiority. physically imposing and his face held a constant sneer of confidence, he was the only one of the four to have his weapon drawn. his one handed battle axe was pulled to his chest when he walked up to the surprised group.

"What do you think you're doing?" hiccup asked, trying not to snicker as he treated the kid like they had just been caught stealing out of the cookie jar.

"Asking you a few questions," one of the girls snarled as she walked up to hiccup and grabbed his collar.

 _\If she harms you.../_

"Ask away," he said, not losing an ounce of confidence. The other kids started to crowd around him but hiccup didn't mind. He was more worried for their safety than his own.

"That night fury, Is it the same one?"

Hiccup's poise faltered, " What?"

"Is it the same!" she shouted.

Hiccup thought through her question in his head before responding peacefully, "Whatever your problem was with the last Nightfury you had here, too- he isn't the same one. Just let the past be the past and move on." Her brown eyes were full of hatred, and in the dark he could of sworn he saw them glow a dim orange. She produced a knife from behind her and flashed it in the hand not used to secure hiccup. He had been threatened by bigger knives and meaner people, she didn't scare him... much."Lady if you want to ever use that hand again I would suggest dropping the knife," the soft chuckle that accompanied the threat only angered her further.

"So help me I will-" she pressed the knife up to hiccups neck and watched in disbelief as his grin did not waver.

"Kill me and bring the wrath of a vengeful dragon upon you, your friends, and every Viking that lives in that village."

"Oh please," the arrogant boy said from the back. "You don't even know a night fury."

"You want to bet?"

"Yeah, I do," snarled the knife girl again as she pushed the edge of the blade harder against his throat, not quite drawing blood.

"Ok, fine. put the knife down and I'll tell you the truth," the defeated sounding hiccup was trying to keep himself from laughing as his plan came to fruition. They still surrounded him but the knife girl eased off the pressure and took the knife away from his throat.

 _"See, what did I tell you."_

 _\You almost got yourself killed./_

 _" but I didn't. so let's show them what we can do bud..._ _ **without killing**_ _"_

 _\fine.../_

The dragon grumbled in disappointment.

Four Vikings surrounded hiccup. The other female and the less physically imposing male had moved behind him without weapons. The only ones that were an immediate threat stood in front.

Hiccup didn't move as a black shadow tackled his assailant to the ground and tripped the axe wielding boy in front of him. In the dark toothless was little more than a shift in the moonlight but they both knew exactly what to do and how to do it. The Vikings behind him jumped back and yelped in fear, the muscular boy found himself reaching to recapture his weapon, but the knife girl did nothing as she stared into the bright green pools of hate that stared at her in the darkness, she had accepted her death from the beast which had taken so much from her. It never came. A second later the apparition was gone and the four were left by the tree alone. Out of the darkness a roar of blue flame lit up the sky. None of them saw the pitch black dragon or the rider but they did see the circular path of still burning blue fire encircling the teens. They had to wait a few minutes for the flames to die before they could escape their fiery prison, during that time all of them, even the angry girl, thought about how easily he could have killed them.

 **Later**

 _ **"**_ _So how are we doing this?"_

 _\I have no idea, it seems that we can send thoughts to each other now. I've heard of dragons which could control other dragons with their minds but nothing like this... and not from a human either.../_

 _"wait... any thought?"_

 _\It seems that way, why do yo- HICCUP!/_

 _"Sorry, sorry. It just slipped in there, I promise"_

 _\you humans and your mating habits continue to confuse me.../_

 **one week later**

Hiccup had delivered the message in under a day and gladly received his reward from the astounded chief. He was sure that if he did not bring back proof of the delivery for the chief then his work wouldn't have been believed. He was finally back on his island and with his forge finally finished. He had managed to convince toothless and Stormfly to help haul the lumber required to shelter the forge but both dragons still whined about it. Hiccup and toothless had not found any answers concerning their new found telepathy.

smiling, he looked over the schematics which he had drawn up. Toothless's tail fin wasn't designed to travel at the speeds which hiccup had nearly died at earlier. It needed to be easier to control and made of a tougher material to withstand the blasting wind. In order to accomplish this hiccup decided upon a checkpoint for the wire to travel through before it reached the saddle, it would be placed in the center of his tail. The wire currently traveled between the tail and the saddle, flapping in the wind as it moved away from the dragon's body. Hiccup feared that at higher speeds this would snap, potentially killing either of them. After thinking about it further hiccup realized that a simple leather harness with a metal tube on one side was all he really needed. Completing the small wrap and taking a test flight, hiccup and toothless immediately noticed the improved response time in the mechanism. Knowing his first real project had worked, he dyed it black to match the rest of the dragon and went to work on his next one.

 **weeks later**

weeks past as toothless and his rider practiced and prepared. It would be years before toothless would be comfortable with fighting any kind of battle without his tailfin, let alone one with the queen. It still surprised the cunning dragon how imaginative the boy he had found on Berk was. The useless scales which toothless had always discarded after they shed from his body now sat in a large glass jar on one of the forges tables. The small wooden building was cramped with only the one boy but it functioned as he intended. Work had begun on another tail fin. Like the first time hiccup made his equipment, he was now in uncharted waters. He had tested four different designs before he came up with the one he preferred. It was almost the exact same design that hiccup had originally used with the clear exception of much better connection to the fabric that held it together and much higher quality of metal. The fabric was a story unto itself. Neither hiccup nor toothless were particularly fond of where they had found the dragon hide that now clung to prosthetic tail fin, but they did not buy it and they gave the merchants selling it one hell of a scare. The finished tail fin was dyed black; anyone who wasn't looking for it wouldn't even know it wasn't natural. He had traded in his green tunic for a common set of leather armor. It wasn't the preferred thing to wear but it would do until he could collect enough dragon scales to make a proper set of armor. A simple metal helmet covered his entire face other than his eyes, that too hiccup assured was just a place holder. The children which had threatened hiccup before could still be seen skulking around the village but none of them were willing to try anything like that again. New equipment had made them faster, the helmet was slowing the down the air enough for hiccup to breathe at higher speeds but once again he reached his limit before his friend.

Another message needed hiccups delivery. The tan parchment sealed with melted wax was nothing out of the normal but the location was. A small island almost two days travel on dragon back. He didn't ask what the message contained, it wasn't his place. He convinced himself it was just another job. In the early morning he packed his emergency rations and med-kit, plus a small experiment in case of emergency and flew off to greet the horizon.

 **Later  
**

A small caravan of covered wagons rolled across the beautiful landscape that was the coast in the evening sun. Guards clad in extravagant yellow gambeson and wielding pikes marched alongside the two most important wagons. Two wagons in the train, each were loaded with guards for the express purpose of protecting the nobles which rested inside of them. The head of the guard furrowed his brow as one of the scouts came galloping atop his horse back to the main group.

"Sir," he panted. " there is a dragon resting near the path ahead."

The commander gave a small sigh of relief. The occasional dragon was not much of a problem, it was the assassins and bandits which worried. "Good work, soldier," he commended before shouting more orders. "Stop the caravan! I want a 20 men with nets and pikes to go with Lars and get rid of a dragon!" A short time later the men were organized and ready to leave. Twenty one men marched in front of him, each one carrying a pike and a sheathed sword. They did not wear heavy armor but that would not be needed for a simple dragon hunt.

 **Later, nearby**

 _ **\Wake up, stay still./**_

hiccup's eyes shot open as the urgency in the dragons words that floated through his mind panicked him. He was still, as asked.

 _\I didn't notice them earlier, I was sleeping along with you. 20 men, surrounding us. they wield pikes and nets./_

Hiccup uttered a curse before responding, _"we have to fly, if we get pinned down we will die."_

 _\agreed, get ready to get airborne/_

They counted together. _3... 2... 1.. GO!_

The black beast sprang to life in the clearing. The men that lined the trees froze upon seeing the sleek black scales move in the twilight. "Attack!" one of them yelled as he threw his spear. The pointed weapon missed the beast of shadow as it flew harmlessly over it. A second later nets and spears were flung at the black shadow which everyone assumed was a dragon. They flew and clouded the air in the clearing, like a heavy rain which killed what feel beneath it. After throwing his spear, one of the men blinked and he missed what came next. With a crack of black lightning the dragon was gone. The trees of the forest slowed the partners immensely, and it was a familiar feeling as they weaved their way away from the clearing but they were still flying faster than any arrow. They exited the top of the canopy only seconds later reminded of the initial rush that came when they had done similar with the stone pillars of Berk. They banked around to examine the group of confused men now picking around the center of the clearing . The twenty crowed around the small camp which hiccup had left. He had removed his helmet and his armor before sleeping and made a campfire, mistakes he would not make again. The men looked back to the heavens as they heard the bloodcurdling screech that came from the empty sky.

They cowered and covered their eyes as they saw the specks of the bright blue flame appear before them. Two of them accepted their deaths and watched, unblinking as the dragon spit fire around at them. A moment later all the men looked around, they were not dead.

They stared at the lone, humid figure that stared at them from across the scorching wall of blue flame. "Give me back my armor," he called coldly.

"Sorcery!" one spouted, pointing at the shaded figure. If the men could see it they would have noticed the eye roll given by the youth.

"I can ask or I can take. Only one of those options leaves you people alive."

The wiser men among the group quickly gathered up the bundle of leather and the helmet and tossed them over the wall of blue flame. The stranger disappeared into the night shortly after leaving them questioning what had just happened.

Later, In a similar clearing farther away from the path the two friends thought back upon the events that just transpired

"That was too close," hiccup panted.

\I still say we should have killed them,/ toothless growled from next to him.

"you know we can't do th-... I would like to avoid it whenever possible..." hiccup admitted to himself how inevitable killing was. They were going to need to eventually and when they did he wanted to be ready.

\We will be ready.../

"Hey, stop reading my thoughts," hiccup protested. He didn't really care but it did surprise him slightly that the dragon was able to do that to his mind.

\I didn't, I just know you./

Hiccup chuckled lightly before he went back to sleep in the warm tent made of his friends wings.

 **weeks later**

The first thing hiccup did when he returned from the long journey was immediately begin construction on a weapon. From the experience he had gained from Berk he quickly selected the weapon of his choice, the bow. The problem of its immense size troubled hiccup. It would be hard to pack a nearly man sized stick on toothless without getting in the way of his joints or his wings. Instead of dropping the concept like toothless had suggested, Hiccup did something much more stupid, he got creative. It had taken him two solid days to think through the problem but the end result was worth it. Instead of working with wood, which was tradition. Hiccup decided upon a intricate system of springs which would allow the bow to fold inward and spring to full size as needed. About halfway through the project, hiccup had received a large gash in his right arm from a wire that had snapped. Needless to say, toothless was concerned but eventually he let the wounded Viking return to work. Eventually he was rewarded with a finished product which worked as intended. The folding compound bow was a mess of pulleys (he called them cams) and high tension wire that fired arrows at enormous speeds.

Although he intended to work on a better saddle next, during the creation of his bow a more intriguing plan came to mind. After some experimenting which almost destroyed his forge, hiccup was able to determine that Toothless's explosive mucus would go off when put under enough force. With help from Ingvilgard's glass blower and some carefully crafted arrows, he was able to fire an arrow which was tipped with small pot of the explosive. Hiccup had never heard the term "kid in a candy store" which Jonathan had used to describe the endeavor but after some time had passed Hiccup had agreed it had been accurate.

Hiccup awoke with a start as toothless unfolded his wings in the dead of night. The pair rested in the bottom of his cave, only feet from the other dragon which they had been living with. Both dragons were awake before him which only worried the Viking more because of their natural lethargy.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

\A ship is being attacked by pirates nearby. Stormfly noticed it. Did you want to help?/ Toothless hardly needed to ask. He knew the young boy well enough to know the answer before it was said.

" Of course, let's go." hiccup was up and getting into his armor quickly, sleep falling behind him as the rush of adrenaline that always filled ones system before a battle replaced it.

Unlike the boy which toothless had first met on the island, Hiccup was intimidating now that he had grown some and his muscles were much more defined from constant use. He wasn't any great warrior but toothless imagined that his youngling could hold his own in combat. Hiccup threw on his domed helmet and grabbed his bow and quiver, they were out of the cave and in the air in seconds as they hurtled to the burning horizon.

Two ships were all that appeared over the dark water. Their hulls were locked together by some mechanism fired by the pirate. The attackers were swarming the other ship, unearthing everything of value from the burning wreckage. The fight was already over by the time hiccup arrived. The crew of the beaten vessel were chained around the mast of the enemy ship, watching their work plummet to the bottom of the ocean. Hiccup thought about his options as they silently circled the scene, toothless once again becoming a shadow among the night.

 _"Precise strikes against the crew, give the men time to escape."_

Toothless and Hiccup took account of the six armored men that patrolled the deck and the sounds of a feast below it before they fired. Out of the shadows came an otherworldly screech which made the crew that patrolled the ship cringe. With crackle of lightning two bolts hit their mark. Two body's flew backward and hit the floor with a heavy thunk. They did not scream when they fell, the head sized hole that burrowed through their chests prevented that. The air filled with the stench of burnt flesh as a demonic voice filled the air.

" **Release them!** " it yelled. The noise blow deck stopped and the hammering of feet against wood was all that could be heard over the still burning flesh.

"What in the name of Oden is going on ar-" the man's shouts stopped instantly when his eyes found the corpses. The stocky, muscular Viking who shouted would be hiccups bet as the captain. When hiccup looked closer at the shocked mans wardrobe a small flame of anger lit inside of him, he was wearing a tunic made of dragon's hide. By the coloring alone it was clearly a Nadder which had been slaughtered for the man's exquisite attire for it was sky blue.

" **Release them!** " Hiccp shouted again from the back of a dragon.

The captain looked at the sorry sight that fell before him. He believed that he was haunted by some demonic scourge but hiccup didn't really care, it had the right effect. " Markus, untie the slaves and get them in the life boat," the captain bellowed, the word slave pained hiccup as he debated if he shouldn't just sink the entire ship after the men had been freed. A few minutes later the group of fearful prisoners were crammed into the life boat and given ores as the ship that carried them turned around and desperately tried to escape the terror that befell them. Luckily for them, it no longer cared.

The Vikings that filed the boat were as scared as the pirates, many assuming that whatever unearthly shade had helped them off the boat was the same one which planned to kill them and take their souls.

"Are you ok?" came a softer voice from the shadows.

One of the men looked up in confusion upon hearing the concerned voice, "why did you save us?"

"there is a settlement nearby, go that way." A blue speck flew out of the darkness that the Vikings watched cruise towards the village. After awhile they began rowing where the blue fire had once been, but the answer for why never came.

Hiccup did not sleep that night. It had been the first time he had killed a man and the stench of his burnt flesh haunted him. He lay sleepless until dawn when he and his dragon finally went to sleep. Toothless was not bothered by the incident but he refused to sleep in order to comfort the boy. It was always hard to take a life of one's own kind, toothless could understand that.

 **Much later**

over the coming weeks hiccup finished the new and improved saddle for toothless. It was a long and painful process of trial and error before he finally found the correct metals and leather to use to hold the saddle to toothless and him to the saddle. Hiccup learned the hard way that he could no longer rely on the rope system he had invented back on Berk. No rope or small piece of wire was strong enough to hold the them both together at the near impossible speeds they were traveling. To replace it hiccup had created a belt out of the toughest fibers he could find; It attached to the saddle and when in place held hiccups back to the leather restraint. Unfortunately, he would not be able to sit up straight or use his weapons when using the thing but it was necessary when they traveled at Toothless's maximum speed. He rather be without weapons for a short while than flying off toothless, plummeting to a quick and painful death. The saddle was more comfortable for both parties, so much so toothless forbid hiccup to take it off.

The problem that hiccup had took the most time on was the breathing. When he and toothless flew fast enough hiccup would not be able to take air into his lungs, there was just too much pressure for his diaphragm to expand but yet again hiccup eventually solved the problem. A small rubber tube was pinned against the saddle and ran from the side of the it into a holster in front of where hiccup would sit. When the time came to fly hiccup would place the tube into a special hole in the front of his helmet.

The new helmet which hiccup had constructed was very similar to the first. The only noticeable differences in the construction of the featureless dome were the hole where the tube for air locked in, the glass covering the eyes and a better air seal around the neck.

The morning was a good one. there was not a cloud in the sky when the two friends flew over the rocky Cliffside to the churning ocean below. The air was cool and calming as they climbed tireless up to the roof of the world and looked over the blue disk below them. Despite the apparatus which hiccup had fit snuggly over his face, the air still start to thin.

 _"I think this is high enough,"_ He thought to the excided dragon below him.

He could feel his friends glee as the words reverberated in his mind. Roaring to the small world below, toothless dived. Hiccup wouldn't realized how fast they were really going as he was more concerned on the equipment that held him snugly to the dragon who was hurtling back down to earth. After a few more seconds hiccup started to worry, the air around him became more turbulent but the joy emanating from his friend convinced him to push onward. The air became even more chaotic and the unearthly roar of the wind deafened hiccup. After a few more beats from the dragon's wings something happened, there was a loud crack and the air cleared up. Hiccup felt back in his element as they started to slowly pull up from the dive. retaining their momentum, they rocketed over the local islands, moving across his home island in less than a fraction of a second. It took only a blink to reach Ingvilgard and cross its large expanse of land. He would hear later that traveling over the island sounded like an explosion in the sky that even broke glass. Eventually they returned home, hiccup could now fly together without fear of hurting the other. They were finally ready...

Many more dragons eventually took refuge on his small island. Dragons dug tunnels throughout the pillar of stone and dirt and the added company kept hiccup feeling well. He was able to collect dragon fire and scales from many different species and his preparations continued. Hiccup continued constant practice with the bow as well as taking up a sword. He wouldn't take the heavy weapon with him when he went out but he trained nonetheless. With a better diet then he had on Berk hiccup gained both height and muscle over months that followed his leaving. A year passed and the training and building continued. Eventually he discovered a tough alloy that could be created with dragon scales. It was much tougher than any steel but was in tern much harder to forge and shape.

 **Years after leaving**

He wore a dirty green tunic like he often did when he was on back on the hell which he once called a home. The simple clothing was comfortable and cool in the heat of Ingvilgard's summer, a thing he learned to hate more than the rough winters of Berk. Hiccup walked calmly through the town and up to the chiefs large home. The heat resistant wooden door opened shortly after he knocked. Twinges of grey had appeared over the years but the man was far from feeble. We wraped himself in a light nightgown before he opened his door for the young man he had watched grow up. Unlike most of the villagers, he eventually managed to find out about hiccup using a Nightfury to travel, but he said nothing of it. It wasn't his place and he didn't feel strongly about the matter, he respected the strangers right to keep his secrets.

"Hello, chief. Any messages today?" the boy asked, as dutifully as ever. The chief chuckled to himself as he glanced at the pile of letters he had on the table behind him.

"Wait here one second," he said with his warm comforting voice that guided the village. He brought back the largest pile of paper hiccup had ever been given. The chief gave another similar chuckle when he saw his friends pupils dilate and his jaw drop.

"Uhhh..."

"I'm calling a meeting of the villages," he explained. Hiccup closed his mouth and began to listen to his assignment. "I want you to deliver these to the correct villages." He handed the young man the stack of papers and Hiccup began to shuffle through them.

"Thanks chief, I'll get it done." hiccup's cocky smile and care free demeanor was emblazoned across his face when he turned away from the chief at the door. He sifted through the countless letters and where they needed to be dilivered.

 _Onyx island... fire isle... Sapphire shore... Be-_

Hiccup dropped the stack of papers. His palms began sweating, his heart racing, his mind trying to flee yet his body refusing. The chief in the doorway said something but hiccup wasn't paying attention anymore. He dropped to his knees and brought up the now face down parchment up to his unbelieving eyes . He gave a small prayer to Oden, grasping desperately at the possibility that his eyes deceived him. they didn't .

 _Berk_

He wanted desperately to turn from the paper and run screaming away from the village but he knew he couldn't. He needed to do this and he needed to return, if nothing else but to end the ceaseless war that had haunted the land. His armor, his weapons, his mind, his friend ... they were all ready, now all he needed was the courage. Hiccup would excuse the panicked outburst as nothing more than clumsiness but the chief saw right through that.

"you have a home here whenever you need one, whatever your name really is."

Hiccup cringed as his lie was peeled away but slowly accepted what needed to be done. " Its hiccup. Thanks for your support over the years."

"No problem, you have been more than helpful. Tell that idiot father of yours that he was wrong about you."

The casual tone in which the chief spoke and the smile edged upon his lips made hiccup pause. The chiefs all knew each other and one's son disappearing was not easily kept secret. The chief had his suspicions from the start but eventually recognized that it wasn't his place. The kid grew up early and had friend which would die for him, not many could say that. Instead of asking the thousands of meaningless questions that he could have hiccup put back on his signature smirk and replied, " Oh, I plan too."

The people called the legendary nightfury rider many things: Shadow dancer, dragon master, night watcher, protector, draconic demon. He hoped the less flattering rumors did not make it back to Berk's shore but it was no use worrying, he would be there shortly.

 **Berk, four years after hiccup had left**

Despite the constant dragon raids that endlessly tormented the town, Berk was better off than it was before hiccup had left. Without the chief's wayward son around to mess everything up the dragon raids had been repelled easier. That is not to say they did not have losses. The most noticeable of which was the absence of the twins childish arguments echoing throughout the streets, they both had died in a raid two years ago. As hiccup's cousin, Snotlout had inherited his position as heir to the chief. At first many of the villagers believed this a good change but as he grew older so did his egotism. Luckily Astrid had escaped the pestering Viking's foolish love for her by becoming a shield maiden who was unable to marry. Gobber never took another apprentice and stoic never mentioned his son again after he left. Stoic hoped that the memory would eventually burn out and leave him, his son was probably dead. He made peace with that.

Gobber spent his night tirelessly working the forge. The smoke from the enclosed fire rose high into the starless night. The light from the blistering furnace cast long shadows across the field and down to the Cliffside. The only real noise from the town also came from the smith's shack, the sound of grinding steel put the rest of the village to sleep. In the starless sky a shadow moved across the moon.

Gobber sang to himself as he worked the weapon down to a sharp point. The soot stained walls hadn't changed, only the weapons and tools that were upon them. The stranger that lingered in the doorway also spied a few new hand attachments hanging on the wall and a large pike. Gobber was oblivious to the smiling stranger who watched him work for the longest of time. At first he debated about saying nothing at all but decided against that, he owed Gobber more than that. He took off the helmet and straightened out his hair before scaring the man half to death.

" What are you up to Gobber?" hiccup said with a cocky smile as he entered the doorway. Gobber looked up and dropped the sword he was pulling out of the forge, shattering it into a hundred pieces. The sound of the broken metal faded into the background as he looked upon the ghost which walked backed into his forge.

"Hicc- ...Hiccup?" he stuttered.

"In the flesh." Even though he had trained for years after he had left to improve on his reflexes and dexterity, hiccup did not see the spine crushing hug coming. He didn't even see the old man get up from his seat before he was upon him. Another thing he didn't expect was to feel the soft wetness of tears drop upon his shoulder. Hiccup just smiled at the old smith and let him ask whatever questions he wanted to. Eventually Gobber pulled back and fully examined the boy, prideful of the talented smith he had raised.

"You didn't get yourself killed after all," he joked, wiping away the last tear that crawled down his face.

"Nah, I got someone looking out for me," hiccup replied. as he said it the air and levity that the pair always had in their conversations returned.

"So do I get to meet im'? " Gobber asked hesitantly.

"wh-... why would you want to? Don't you hate dragons?"

Gobber shrugged. "Your still alive after four years alone with the beasts. I'm willing to take your word that its safe... It is safe, right?"

 _Maybe the stubborn blockheads can be reasoned with..._

" Yeah its safe. Just don't make any hostile actions towards me or him and he'll behave."

"So what are you doing here? Did you just come back for me or..."

Hiccup shook his head, knowing what he was about to say sounded insane. "well I officially came here to deliver a message to stoic about a tribal meeting but I plan to kill the dragons leader and end this war too," hiccup said seriously.

Instead of arguing Gobber just asked another question, " Is there any anything I can do to stop you from fighting that battle alone?"

"Nope... Do you want to go see toothless?"

"Toothless?"

hiccup tried to hold back a chuckle, "The dragon."

"You named it toothless?"

"You always said bad names warded off trolls."

They shared a laugh

"right now? Where is he?"

"Follow me, I'll show you." before Gobber could say anything else hiccup grabbed a torch off a nearby wall and started to walk briskly towards the forest. Gobber chuckled to himself. He wouldn't mind always having to chase the young trouble maker.

They ran down the path to the cove which had once been toothless's rocky prison. Gobber barley kept up , calling for hiccup to wait up or slow down. Unlike when he was a child hiccup listened.

 _\Hiccup!/_

His friend called out to his mind to warn him of the large Viking following shortly behind him.

"Its fine bud, he's a friend."

"Who you talking to Hiccup?"

"Toothless, who else."

"And he really can understand you?"

"If he couldn't you would be a puddle by now."

"uummm..." Gobber didn't find the joke funny. Hiccup pushed past the rocks and squeezed into the mossy stone canyon which appeared empty. Gobber followed shortly after, having quite a hard time with the cramped entrance. The cool night air bit at his exposed face but left the insulated body alone.

Gobber came in and took a look around, unable to see the dragon hidden among the stones. "Did he fly off?"

solemn wave passed over hiccups face, " he can't. He just doesn't trust you." The dragon moved away from the wall and skulked up behind the large Viking.

"Well where is he?"

\Behind you/ The words were not understood by Gobber but the low, unearthly growl that emanated from behind him told him what he needed to know. He tensed, trying not to make any threatening moves like hiccup had told him and turned slowly around.

It was like no dragon he had ever seen. it had no color but the low sheen of torchlight off of the ebony scales. It was shorter than the large man but that didn't make it any less threatening. Its glowing judgmental eyes were contracted into pointed slits, staring into Gobber's very being and judging the one person which kept hiccup sane for 15 years. The frightening image of the stealthy dragon made him almost miss the expertly crafted saddle and rigging which clung to his back, body, and tail. As gobber followed the rigging past the dragons glare he rested his eyes upon its tail.

"Its crippled..." Gobber muttered to himself.

Toothless snarled in response, 'it' was perfectly fine as it was.

"Sorry... your ...crippled..." hiccup stood behind the smith, dreading the conversation he was going to have to have. "How..." Toothless also took on a sorry look upon his face, dropping the aggression. The dragon tossed his head towards his rider. Gobber turned to hiccup.

"It was a raid, four years ago. I shot him down... I meant to kill him." Hiccup fought to hold back tears but he was unsuccessful. Toothless moved past Gobber and shoved his head into hiccups sternum, his eyes wide and forgiving.

"I know, bud... you forgive me..."

Gobber just chuckled. Hiccup really was in good han- paws? "So what now?" Gobber asked after hiccup seemed adequately consoled by the black beast in front of him.

"Wake up tomorrow, storm the nest, kill the queen."

" Do you really think you can do it alone?"

"I'm not going to be alone." Toothless crooned in agreement. " You would be surprised how fas-"

All three members of the conversation froze as the distant echo of a horn over the horizon blared to life. It repeated over and over again and didn't stop.

"Dragon raid," Gobber muttered as he turned back to the entrance. " I need to get back and help them." Gobber turned back around. Hiccup and the dragon had gone without a trace.

Berk was burning. A hundred dragons filled the night, frantically searched for food, yet one dragon was not. A singular shadow flew low and fast weaving between torches and towers as it flew to the front line. From behind it a man screamed Nightfury but many didn't believe him . The night was silent and one had not been seen at Berk for years. The shadow came upon the field. The battle was crammed full of dragons and Vikings viciously trying to kill each other. The air was clouded with arrows, nets and bolas, and dragon fire. Both sides fought for their lives.

Out of the shadows a unearthly roar caught the attention of everyone on the battle field, Viking and dragon alike. \Leave, I will distract them!/

The terrified creatures took the moment of respite and they did not need to be told twice. Another voice came out of the shadows, catching the attention of every human on the battlefield, "Let them go! They will not harm you anymore!" The Nightfury and his rider hovered above the battlefield, trying desperately to bring the foolish battle to an end. They didn't even see the net coming.

Loosing flight was the singular most terrifying thing hiccup had ever felt in his life. Toothless agreed but this was not the first time. They crashed in the center of the now dragonless field, Vikings closing in fast. Hiccup was pinned to the back of his friend scrambling for the knife hidden in his gauntlet. He got to it and cut through the ropes just in time. He was barely able to do so before the Vikings surrounded him. A black scaled man stood facing the army that faced him, his best friend pleading for him to run and leave him behind him. they now surrounded the two completely, there was no escape.

"Demon!"

"Witchcraft!"

"Kill em'."

The shouts continued but no one stepped forward to take the first swing. " I demand an audience with the chief," Hiccup bellowed from under the black steel mask. The crowd went silent and neither hiccup nor toothless made any sudden moves. Slowly he put the knife on the ground and put his hands up.

Out of the silence one man shouted, "Kill the dragon!"

In one smooth motion hiccup took two steps back and pulled his flaming sword from his waist. The hilt expanded to a arm length piece of metal coated with burning monstrous nightmare fire. The steel was a special alloy he had managed to create using toothless flames instead of his own. Despite the fire glistening off of the blade, the blade itself was still black as night. "If you harm him I will burn this village to the ground!"

the threat was heeded

His father pushed through the crowd. "What in Odin's name is going on here!" His eyes landed on his son and his grip tightened on his axe. "Kill the-" before he could finished his declaration hiccup sheathed his sword and walked forward with it outstretched. The Vikings around him hefted their weapons ready to strike.

"My companion and I surrender to you Stoic the vast," he said, handing over his sword to the man. He didn't feel the blow that knocked him unconscious until the next morning. His father had taken his sword and smashed the hilt of his blade into his head. The dragon behind him roared furiously.

"Take the beast to the kill ring, we sort this out in the morning."

Out of respect for hiccup, Toothless did not vaporize the men who threw him into the back of a large cart and carried him to the arena. They had bound hiccups hands and feet but not disarmed the rest of the man when they threw his limp body in the holding cell. Both partners could easily escape from their poorly designed prisons. Hiccups bow was still intact and the arrows that still clung to his back would have made short work of the iron bars. Toothless was being kept in a stone cage with an iron door, three shots of fire, if not less would have made short work of the cage designed to hold a Nadder.

Hiccup woke two hours later and found himself in the windowless dark cell but he was not alone.

 _\Hiccup?/_

He breathed a sigh of relief when the familiar touch of his friends mind reached out to him.

 _"Still here. How are you holding up?"_

 _\What were you thinking!? Why didn't you run?!/_

 _" Glad your holding up well, bud."_ he chuckled at his own remark while toothless only got more angry.

 _\You could have been killed!/_

 _"But I wasn't and I'll figure this out"_

Hiccup could feel toothless sigh, _\Just don't get yourself killed. You're not the only one who would burn this village to the ground.../_

Hiccup chuckled at that and waited for the morning to come. He had gotten used to the comfortable armor but without the black leathery wings to surround him he didn't really want to sleep, neither did his friend.

 **The next morning**

When Gobber heard of the mysterious dragon rider which had been captured the night before he ran immediately to stoic who was about to go pay the mysterious stranger a visit. He caught the large man just before he left his home and now stood in the homes entrance.

"Ah, Gobber. What brings you here?" Stoic asked his friend as he grabbed his weapon off of the rack by the door.

"I was wondering what you plan on doing with the dragon and that man who rode it?" he tried to sound uninterested.

"I need to talk with him first but after that I plan to kill that black beast he rode in on." The casual way stoic had said it gave Gobber a chill down his spine. It was like he was seeing the world for the first time and he didn't like what he saw. He was still digesting how harmless the dragon had been when it chose to be.

"Can I join you?" If worse came to worse he would intervene.

Stoic shrugged, " I don't see why not."

They walked together to the cell which housed the armored young man. The entire way Gobber eyed the large axe that stoic had hung around his back. The same one he might use to lop off Toothless's head if either his son or the dragon gave him the chance.

Eventually they walked into the haphazardly constructed jail to find the dragon rider sitting cross leg with his eyes closed, facing the door. The featureless dark dome betrayed nothing of his true identity. As the Viking chief strode in he opened his eyes. If his father was more observant he would have immediately noticed the same green eyes which burdened his son. Stoic stood above the masked stranger, if he had not lived with it for fifteen years he would have been intimidated by his sheer size and his powerful glare.

"Why do you come here, snake," Stoic spat.

The name did not harm him, he had received much worse from his peers. "I was in that field to try to prevent further bloodshed. I stopped at Berk to prepare myself for the battle that is to come."

"What battle?" he demanded.

"I'm going to the nest and killing the queen. If she dies the dragons will stop raiding and they will leave you alone."

Stoic stopped for a second to digest the information. "Why should we trust you?"

The rider shrugged, " You don't need to trust me. You just need to let my dragon and I go."

Stoic let out a hardy laugh that made both hiccup and Gobber cringe, " Let you go?! You would just turn your enslaved beast on us!"

Stoic hadn't even meant that to be an insult but it angered him more than anything else he had said so far. Trying to remain calm, hiccup took a deep breath before responding," My dragon is my friend, he is not enslaved. As for betraying you, I can give you my word that neither one of us will hurt you."

"The word of a traitor to his race. who _befriends_ dragons." he spat the word as if it was the harshest of insults but hiccup felt no anger, he felt pride.

"Yes, I am the first Viking to befriend a dragon. I have no shame in this because they are not the monsters you believe them to be."

Hiccup hid a smile as his father wrapped his hands around the bars in anger and put his face as close to the dragon rider as he could, "You are no Viking."

He turned to toothless

 _"Well this is going nowhere..."_ his smug smile hid how depressed he felt internally.

 _\I heard./_

 _"Let's pull my ace in the hole."_

Turning back to the conversation in front of him hiccup slowly pulled of his helmet. "That, **Dad** , is where we agree."

Stoic just stared at his son. Hiccup and Gobber watched anxiously as the cogs turned inside his head. The next words were just a whisper, "How did you learn about the nest?"

"The dragon told me... Only a dragon can get to the nest..." Hiccup responded. His face was older, he had a small beard growing but it was clearing the same child which had left. Without another word he turned around and walked out the door, leaving an astounded smith and a young man in his wake. "Make sure he doesn't kill toothless,"

"I'll try lad," gobber agreed, worried about his friend.

After a few minutes and no sign from toothless that he was in danger both of them fell into a greatly needed sleep. It had been a long, sleepless night and they would need the rest. Little did they know stoic was rallying the men and readying the longships. In the kill ring where toothless slept a Viking took a chained terror down to the docks and tied it to the mast. The Vikings were going to hit the nest and they were going to do it now. Gobber thought to free hiccup but thought that whatever beast lay within the nest was one that they could easily kill.

 **a week later**

Both rider and dragon and rider had not been visited since the conversation with Stoic. Hiccup assured them both that he would eventually come back to talk and he needed time to digest the information. The people that fed toothless and himself spoke of nothing when questioned, sothey waited. Little did they know, his father was on a long ship heading to the nest. One morning while hiccup was checking over his equipment and toothless was preening his scales the ground shook. A unearthly roar seemed to wash over the island and shake the heavens themselves. They both took action.

 _\Hiccup!/_

 _"I know, I know. Our time table just got a hell of a lot shorter."_

Hiccup scrambled up from his bed roll and unfolded his bow. Standing against the bars he pulled back and loosed a explosive arrow against the back wall. He closed his eyes and turned as the rubble pelted him and the rest of the room leaving a a dragon size hole in the wall. The town outside was nearly empty, only a few men and women lingered around the streets but all that did began to chase him.

Toothless laughed at the 'dragon proof' holding cell when he ripped the hinges off in only two blasts. He slammed through the doors expecting mountains of guards but instead all he found was a boy around fifteen who was desperately clutching an axe. Toothless just walked around the stunned boy and blasted out the exit.

 _"Where are you?!"_

 _\Arena, heading to you./_

 _"I have villagers chasing after me, we are going to make it quick."_

Hiccup ran down the muddy streets followed by an armed mob. They weaved through the side streets and followed relentlessly until a bloodcurdling screech made every experienced Viking duck. A moment later the boy they were chasing was gone, taken by a dragon in a fraction of a second.

"Come back here you runt!" heard someone yell...no, not someone, Snotlout... After a brief conversation ,Hiccup and toothless banked around the group just far enough to let hiccup put a barbed arrow through his leg. It was much better than the fiery alternative that toothless suggested but gave them both some much needed vengeance against the man. He didn't wait to see the real damage he caused, hearing his tormentors scream worth a few seconds of sidetracking. Hiccup strapped on his gear and plugged in his mask to the hose and the pair started to rocket across the ocean. They reached top speed in a minute and rushed to the island.

 **Three minutes later**

Stoic knew he was going to die . The fleet was burning behind him and a behemoth was spewing fire in front of them. The colossus dug itself out of the stone and stood now eyeing its meal while stoic gawked at his utter failure. Its stony hide was not penetrated by the stones and arrows the Vikings they held no hope in killing the beast. The lumbering creature that dwarfed his entire village stomped forward. Stoic accepted his death, dropping his axe as the demonic thing approached him and blocked out the sun. The beast's eyes locked with the chief and it shot its massive head down to devour the nusince.

Stoic matched the stare of the creatures many eyes and watched as it got closer... and closer. Then out of nowhere a flash of brilliant blue light and a deafening boom blinded and deafened the Vikings as something shot overhead. Whatever it was, stoic swore it faster than lightning. Hiccup unhooked his belt as toothless decelerated to fighting speeds over the burning fleet of ships run aground on the gravely beaches. For the first time both hiccup and toothless let all their anger and power out fighting with a vengeance they were gleeful to take. They banked and shot over the island, getting a full look at the creature who now turned to meet them.

 _"Let's give her hell bud."_

 _\Gladly/_

The monster roared to the dragon and his rider, \ YOU FOOLS, YOU SHALL BURN LIKE TINDER!/

The pair shuddered at her words that echoed in their mind but hiccup didn't let them effect them. Toothless banked around into firing position while hiccup grabbed and arrow and taunted, " Taste this fire bitch!"

From the ground the group of the stunned Vikings heard the unearthly screech that everyone was once familiar with. One man shouted to get down but many just stood and watched as two brilliant blue explosions impacted the furious creatures skull. The faint insult of the chiefs son radiating out from the battle. The creature snapped and threw flames and the agile silhouette but it always dodged out the way right before they would have hit. All of the Vikings cheered for the black dragon, their only chance of survival.

Hiccup cursed under his breath. They weren't doing enough damage and he didn't have enough fire arrows to keep their bombing runs. The next few runs blew off the stone hindering the creatures great wing, the entire time the dragon bit and tore at the air where they had been a second prior. It roared again in rage.

\DIE!/

"I don't think I'm going to take you up on that offer," hiccup jeered as the rushing wind tore apart around them. After a few more runs the dragon unfolded its wings and slammed the air downward, knocking a few Vikings off their feet as it began to fly. The shadow in the sky circled the island and watched as the creature chased them. Both hiccup and toothless smiled as the queen brought the fight to their element. They climbed higher and higher with the queen nipping at their heels, behind them. They disappeared into a dark cloud above them, the queen shortly behind. She pierced the storm clouds and looked at where the dragon and his little pet once was in front of her, they were gone. She alone in the darkness, her followers running off when the Vikings stormed the gate to her domain.

\FIGHT ME COWARD!/ she bellowed as her six beady eyes searched desperately for an answer.

The voice that responded echoed all around her through the mist, "Five"

A second later a barbed arrow appeared feet from her and imbedded it in one of her eyes. She roared in pain as the tip tore through it and stopped itself in the nerve cord that connected to the brain. Blood and the clear fluid that filled her eye rained down to the island and the Vikings below.

The cool words returned to the shocked and suffering dragon, "Four"

Out of fear she closed her eyes and tossed her head wildly, throwing fire blindly into the dark. The unseen dragon barrel rolled through the erratic flames and glided by the dragon, giving hiccup a clean shot.

The arrow pierced the scaled eyelid like it wasn't even there. Having perfected the metal over the years away hiccup was not surprised as it cut through the flesh and pinned the eyelid to the damaged eye below.

The queen had never really felt fear before but she did now. The third number was called and her third eye went out, whatever metal the man-child used was unlike she had ever faced before, it was hot like fire and even more deadly. Her entire right side was gone and her vision cut in half . She was almost thankful when they stopped going after her eyes.

From the ground all that could be seen was the silhouette of the large dragon with the differing flashes of reds and blues. Hiccup and toothless fired hard into her right wing burning holes larger than longships into its leathery canvas. The fight went on for minutes before they achieved what they were after, the queen didn't notice until it was too late. After a minute of furious cutting burning and clawing her right wing was nothing but tatters and she was plummeting.. Hiccup and toothless fired shot after shot at the crashing dragon.

\NO!/ she screeched in vain.

The Vikings eyes grew wide as the mountain fell from the sky in front of them. The smart ones ran from the soon to be crater as the impact shook the land air and see in a explosion that could be felt back on hiccups island. The explosion enveloped those close by incinerating those who happened to be in the wrong place in the wrong time. On the other side the island a small black dragon and his rider fell to the ground, exhausted. They would have a lot of work to do in the coming days and a lot of wounded to treat but the queen was dead and the war was over.

Many would later compare the deeds of hiccup as a vicious battle that left both parties reeling but that was not the truth. There had been no real contest between the combatants. The queen was a mighty weapon which would be devastating in the time of war and would have easily devoured the Vikings and burned their settlements but the Nightfury and its rider were a scalpel. A targeted and prepared killing machine which struck from the darkness and won through preparedness and intellect. They would write later that hiccup was a great Viking but that was too a lie. Hiccup was a great smith, a amazing friend, a wonderful person, but before all else , Hiccup was a dragon.

 **Review and tell me what you thought.**


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